This invention relates to a starch/gum based food ingredient. More specifically, it relates to a starch/gum based food ingredient that may be utilized to achieve desired textures in a food product, to contribute whitening/opacity and improved flavor release, as well as act as a general processing aid in viscosity control.
The manufacturer of prepared food products must take into account a number of factors that potentially affect their manufacturability and their salability of the product. Concerns related to manufacturability involve a variety of considerations such as ease of handling ingredients, energy costs associated with processing during manufacture, waste of product ingredients, and the quantity and effect of effluent waste streams resulting from the manufacturing process.
In terms of salability of a product, cost is an important factor and sensory issues bearing on consumer acceptance are extremely important. Included among these are texture or so-called xe2x80x9cmouth feelxe2x80x9d and general physical appearance of the product, i.e., does the product have a pleasing appearance. As an example, one need only consider the contrast in color and mouth feel between non-fat (skim) milk and milks containing varying percentages of fat to recognize the importance of this factor. Other factors include overall flavor profiles and the ability of the product to release its flavor. Shelf life is also a considerable concern.
Many of the foregoing factors are affected favorably by the use of gums as an additive to food products. Edible gums such as carrageenan, xanthan, locust bean, guar, carboxymethyl cellulose, and pectin have long been used for a variety of purposes as, for example, to bind water, provide increased viscosity, suspend solids, stabilize emulsions, retard crystallization in frozen desserts, and prevent syneresis in cultured dairy products. The modem trend toward nonfat or lowfat products has dramatically increased the usage of such gums, alone and in combination with various sources of starch. Starch/gum blends may be used to replace fat removed from the particular food item of concern, such as nonfat ice cream, nonfat yogurt, or nonfat sour cream. Frequently the blends are purely mechanical blends, which is to say that the ingredients in the blend do not physically or chemically interact to provide entirely new properties that might enhance their value.
It has therefore been proposed to blend starch with hydrocolloids such as the gums identified above in such a way that the blending is more than a mere mechanical mixture of the components. In commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,484, issued Aug. 22, 1989, to Bielskis, et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present application, there is disclosed a product and a method of making the same which involves separately hydrating a starch and a hydrocolloid which are then intimately co-mingled, heated, cooled, dried, and pulverized to produce the finished food additive. The resulting food ingredient serves as a stabilizer for frozen desserts, and when using guar gum as the hydrocolloid, functions as a replacement for more expensive locust bean or cellulose gums or at least allows a reduction in the quantity of the expensive gums that are required.
The Bielskis, et al. patent discloses a method and a product made thereby that is said to work well with any of a variety of starch sources. Traditionally, however, so-called xe2x80x9chigh amylose starchesxe2x80x9d (a starch that is 40% or more amylose) have been avoided because they have been difficult to process due to their high gelatinization temperatures. At the same time, the benefits of pre-processed high amylose starches have been recognized to include stronger gels, improved appearance and adhesion properties, as well as better textural characteristics in the final product. Patents of interest relating thereto include Kasica et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,953, issued Jul. 21, 1992, and Zallie et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,432, issued Jan. 25, 1994.
The use of suspensions of high amylose starch in an excess water slurry with mild shearing during heating and subsequent cooling to provide an ingredient that acts as a fat replacer or whitening agent is disclosed in Baensch, et al. patent document WO 9603057 of 1996. See also Christianson, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,088.
Finocchiaro in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,937, issued Dec. 17, 1996, discloses a high amylose starch texturizing agent that is useful as a fat replacement. Mallee et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,391, issued Nov. 28, 1995, discloses the application of such products to foods such as mayonnaise, salad dressings, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, peanut butter, frosting, cheesecake, mousse, and other sauces. Similarly, Finocchiaro in U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,395, issued Oct. 21, 1997, discloses fat free or lowfat products utilizing modified starch/gum based ingredients employing high amylose starches.
While these products appear to work well for their intended purposes, the processes by which they are formed are relatively intense and expensive, and often difficult to control. The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above problems.
It is the principal object of the invention to provide a new and improved starch/gum based ingredient for food products. More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a starch/gum based ingredient that is easy to manufacture, one that reduces energy requirements to produce the ingredient, one that minimizes or eliminates ingredient wastage, and one that produces no significant effluent stream. It is also an object of the invention to provide a method of making such a starch/gum based food ingredient as well as various food products with which the ingredient may be usefully employed.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention, according to one facet thereof, provides a starch/gum based ingredient that includes a starch, water, and a hydrocolloid selected from the group consisting of xanthan gum, guar gum, locust bean gum and combinations thereof, co-processed in an extruder at elevated temperature, under conditions of high shear, and with a water content of about 16.7% to about 50%.
More particularly, the invention involves intimately combining different carbohydrate polymers under moderate moisture and appropriate temperature levels in order to process the blends in a manner to achieve an appropriate degree of physical interaction of the individual components to promote maximum functionality as a novel value-added food ingredient. The starch employed will typically have an amylose content varying from 23-70%.
Typically, the elevated temperature is greater than about 100xc2x0 C.
Preferably, the hydrocolloid is xanthan gum.
According to another facet of the invention, a method of making a starch/gum based ingredient for use in a food product includes the steps of: a) providing a dry feed of 50-99% high amylose starch and 1-50% of a hydrocolloid selected from the group consisting essentially of xanthan gum, guar gum, locust bean gum, and mixtures thereof; b) introducing the dry feed and water into a cooker/extruder at a water to dry mix ratio of about 0.20-0.47; c) mixing the water and dry feed and elevating the temperature thereof within the cooker/extruder to a barrel temperature within the range of about 100-210xc2x0 C. to at least partially cook the materials; d) extruding the product resulting from step c) through a die to expand and partially dry the product; e) drying the extruded product to a moisture content of 20% or less; and f) reducing the dried extruded product to a desired size.
Preferably, the drying step reduces the moisture content to 10% or less and the reducing step reduces the extruded product to a powder.
The invention also contemplates, according to still another facet thereof, a food product containing an effective amount of the ingredient produced by the method as set forth above, and further including additional ingredients of a food product selected from the group consisting of salad dressings, soups, sauces, frozen desserts, candy, yogurts, and sour cream.
Depending upon the particular food product being manufactured, the starch/gum based ingredient is introduced into the food product in the range of about 0.1 to about 2.0 percent by weight.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawing.